1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for manually displacing or moving sections and sheet metal.
2. Description of the Related Art
German Patent 44 29 631 C1 discloses a device for manipulating sections and sheet metal which includes a hand lever with a handle at one end of the hand lever and a fork-like or U-shaped claw attached to the hand lever through a swivel axis at a distance from the handle. The swivel axis is provided at the end of the hand lever facing away from the handle. The claw extends from the swivel axis in the direction toward the handle. The claw can be swivelled upwardly about the swivel axis relative to the hand lever over an angle of greater than 90.degree. and the claw is secured against swivelling toward the bottom.
A device of this type has been found useful in actual practice. In use, the fork-like claw is placed from the side against the upper flange of a section or against a longitudinal edge of a piece of sheet metal. The claw is arranged relative to the lever end in such a way that, when an upwardly directed tensile force occurs which tends to swivel the section or sheet metal, no relative movement can take place between the claw and the hand lever as long as the axis of gravity of the respective object is not moved past the vertical plane extending through the tilt axis. A section or piece of sheet metal is securely held by the claw.
If, for example, the axis of gravity of a section is moved past the vertical plane extending through the longitudinal edge at the bottom of a bottom flange as the tilt axis, the claw can swivel about its swivel axis without swivelling the hand lever. During the further tilting procedure, the claw is automatically and without problems separated from the section. Consequently, an operator who still holds the handle of the hand lever is not pulled away by the tilting section and, thus, is not in danger of being injured. The same advantages exist when turning sheet metal. Moreover, damage to the spinal column of the operator due to incorrect body position during tilting or turning is essentially eliminated. Another advantage of the device is the fact that, when two or more operators are to tilt or turn an object together, one operator is no longer in danger of being injured as a result of inattention of another of the operators.
Even though the known device without doubt has the above-described advantages, it has been found in practice that the free swivelling capability of the claw relative to the hand lever frequently has the result that, prior to placing the claw against a section or a piece of sheet metal, the claw tilts downwardly and, consequently, the claw mouth is no longer in the desired position for grasping the section or piece of sheet metal. The operator must then hold the hand lever with one hand and pivot the claw with the other hand back into the position in which it can then be secured to the section or piece of sheet metal. Because of the unimpaired swivelling capability and, in the case of large section classes or heavier sheet metal, the heavier weight of the claw can then have the effect that an unintentionally swivelled claw may make contact with the shinbone of the operator and cause injury as a result. It is also possible that finger contusions may occur.